A known example of such a contact is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2006-19296. A contact section of the disclosed type of contact includes a spring for pinching a mating contact to maintain a contacting state even when the mating contact moves relative to the contact.
A known contact 800, shown in FIG. 10, includes a U-shaped contact section 801, a pair of leg sections 802 to be connected to a circuit board, a pair of free ends 803 provided in the contact section 801, and a pair of flat springs 804 that respectively extend from the pair of free ends 803 and each bend 180 degrees at two points on the way to the corresponding leg section 802. The leg sections 802 are connected to the circuit board (not shown) by solder, and the U-shaped contact section 801 pinches a mating contact to establish electrical connection therewith (not shown).
In the contact 800, the two free ends 803, positioned on both sides of the mating contact, are directly linked to the separate springs 804 respectively. For this reason, when vibration or shock is applied to the mating contact, space is momentarily formed between the two free ends 803 and the mating contact, which may break electrical connection.
Thus, there is proposed a contact having such a structure that a pair of arms are supported by a support, and this support is supported by a pair of springs in a displaceable manner (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-98052.)
FIGS. 11A and 11B are perspective views of another known contact that is different from that in FIG. 10. The contact 900, shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B, includes a pair of arms 902 and 903 that extend forward while facing each other, a plate-shaped support 904 that supports the arms 902 and 903, a pair of springs 905 and 906 that bend at and extend from both sides of the support in a left-right direction that is a direction in which the arms 902 and 903 face each other, and tabs 908 and 909 provided at the respective tips of the springs 905 and 906. The contact 900 is fixed to a cover (not shown) of the connector when the tabs 908 and 909 are press-fit into the cover. The arms 902 and 903 that hold the mating contact (not shown) move together with the support 904 by following the mating contact.
The tabs 908 and 909 in the contact 900 shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B are disposed frontward like the tips of the arms 902 and 903, extending from the support 904. Besides, the tabs 908 and 909 are aligned with the tips of the arms 902 and 903 in the left-right direction in which the arms 902 and 903 facing each other pinch the mating contact. In other words, the tabs 908 and 909 are disposed on both sides between which the tips of the arms 902 and 903 are interposed. For this reason, a range in which the tips of the arms 902 and 903 may move is limited to a range between the tabs 908 and 909 (to be exact, a range in the cover where the contact 900 is disposed, the range being narrower by the thickness of press-fit parts of the cover into which the tabs 908 and 909 are press-fit). If an attempt is made to secure the range in which the tips of the arms 902 and 903 move by following the mating connect, while avoiding interference with the tabs 908 and 909, it is necessary to dispose the tabs 908 and 909 with a wider space in between. Thus, in a case in which plural contacts are aligned and disposed, it is impossible to place them by narrowing the pitch between the contacts.
Further, the contact illustrated in FIG. 10 and the contact illustrated in FIGS. 11A and 11B need to be bent around axes extending in different directions to form the basic structure, which complicates the operation when forming is performed by a manufacturing machine.